Win over Aberdeen gives Bainfield breathing space

STEWART MEIKLE

Bainfield boosted their battle to stay clear of the relegation zone in B section of the gents indoor bowls Premier League by claiming a 75-69 home win over Aberdeen.

Aberdeen arrived in the Capital sharing second-bottom spot with their hosts and a tense match was eventually decided as the home rinks skipped by Craig Paterson and Robert Marshall each carded a three on their final end.

The visitors had added to the drama by pinching a three off the rink skipped by James Hogg and a single off Gavin Smith while a time clock issue meant Marshall only completed 18 of his 21 ends and Smith 19.

Bainfield actually held the edge on all three of the match phases but only marginally so with the analysis showing 25-24, 29-26 and 21-19 in the home side’s favour.

The victory made it three wins from six and moves them two points clear of Aberdeen and four ahead of Abbeyview alongside Ayr but two adrift of East Lothian and four short of leaders Falkirk. Paterson made the major contribution to the Bainfield effort, adding nine shots as he skipped Jamie Reid, Danny McCourt and Daniel Gormley to a 23-14 win over E Gillan.

The home rink had managed to pressure their opponents with three three-end runs of 3, 3, 2 then 1, 2, 2 followed by gold-plated finish of 1, 1, 3.

Marshall answered pressure at 10-7 down with exciting counts of three and four that doubled his score to 14 then, at 16-13, thrilled the home support with a 1, 3 finish to skip Graeme McIntosh, Steven Pilley and Kevin Tennant to a 20-13 win over G Forbes.

Hogg dropped a five to trail 9-5 then looked to be in trouble at 11-17 but skipped Mark McIntosh, Brian Stoddart and John McDermott to a revival run of 2, 2, 2, 1 to hit the front before being pipped 20-18 on the line by Kevin Pirie.

Smith skipped Josh Spalding, Steven Rennie and Colin Hutchison into a 13-8 lead but a 14-1 collapse that followed cost them a 22-14 defeat from Mike Stephen.